Learn About the Uses of Sodium Chloride

The ionic compound sodium chloride (chemical formula NaCl), also known as table salt, rock salt, sea salt, and the mineral halite, is made up of cube-shaped crystals made up of the elements sodium and chlorine. It’s what gives the world’s waters their salinity. This salt has been important since ancient times and has a wide range of applications. One of its most common uses is as a component of salt, which humans consume and prepare dishes with. It can be made chemically or by extracting and evaporating water from brines and seawater.

Properties

In its purest form, sodium chloride is colourless. It is hygroscopic, meaning it collects water from the air. The salt dissolves quickly in water. Its dissolution in water is endothermic, meaning it absorbs some of the heat energy from the water. When dissolved or molten, sodium chloride melts at 1,474°F (801°C), boils at 2,670°F (1,465°C), has a density of 2.16 g/cm3 (at 25°C), and conducts electricity.

Bonds

An ionic bond holds an ionic substance like sodium chloride together. When oppositely charged ions attract, this type of bond is produced. This attraction is analogous to the attraction between two opposite poles of a magnet. When an atom receives or loses one or more electrons, it forms an ion or charged atom. If there is a positive charge, it is termed a cation, and if there is a negative charge, it is called an anion.

The alkali metal sodium (chemical symbol Na) loses an electron to generate the positive sodium ion (Na+). Chlorine (Cl) is a nonmetal that prefers to gain an electron in order to produce the negative chloride ion (Cl–).

To create an ionic connection, the oppositely charged ions Na+ and Cl– attract each other. This holds a large number of sodium and chloride ions together, resulting in a salt with a characteristic crystal structure. In sodium chloride, the ions are arranged in a three-dimensional crystal lattice, with each Na+ surrounded by six anions (Cl–) and each Cl is surrounded by six cations (Na+). As a result, the ionic composition contains a balance of oppositely charged ions with equal positive and negative charges.

Processing And Location

Seawater, other salty waters or brines, and dry rock salt deposits all include sodium chloride, which is abundant in nature. It’s made by extracting water from brines and seas and evaporating it. Chemically, sodium chloride and water can be made by reacting hydrochloric acid (chemical formula HCl) with sodium hydroxide (chemical formula NaOH).

Mining

Room and pillar mining and solution mining are two methods for extracting salt from the ground. Shafts are sunk into the ground in the chamber and pillar method, and miners utilise drilling and blasting techniques to break up the rock salt. The salt is extracted in such a way that there are now vacant chambers supported by salt pillars.

Water is added to the salt deposit to generate brine in solution mining. Brine is a sodium chloride and water solution that may or may not contain other salts. In one method, a well is bored in the ground and two pipes (one smaller than the other) are inserted into it. Fresh water is pumped to the salt through the inner pipe. The dissolved salt condenses into brine, which is pushed to the surface and subsequently removed through the outer pipe.

Evaporation

Using vacuum pans to evaporate the water is a traditional approach to get salt from brine. Brine is heated and agitated in large tanks known as vacuum pans in this procedure. Salt cubes of excellent quality form and settle to the bottom of the pans. Following that, the cubes are collected, dried, and processed.

The traditional method of solar evaporation of seawater to make salt is still commonly utilised today. It derives its energy from the sun. This approach works well in areas with plenty of salt water, land for evaporating ponds, and hot, dry weather to help with evaporation. A network of evaporating ponds are used to pass seawater. At variable speeds, minerals in seawater precipitate or drop out of solution. As the seawater is transported from one evaporating pond to another, the majority of them precipitate before sodium chloride and are thus left behind.

Uses of Sodium Chloride

Sodium chloride is an essential nutrient that is utilised in healthcare to combat dehydration in patients. It’s utilised as a flavour enhancer as well as a food preservative. Sodium chloride is also utilised in the production of polymers and other items. It’s also used to de-ice sidewalks and roads.

1. Medical and health: To treat dehydration, hospitals employ an intravenous sodium chloride solution to deliver water and salt to patients. Maintaining the electrolyte balance of fluids in a person’s body requires sodium chloride. According to the US National Library of Medicine, electrolyte levels can become too low or too high, causing dehydration or overhydration.
2. Food Flavouring and Preservative: For thousands of years, sodium chloride has been used to flavour and preserve foods. Salt acts as a preservative, preventing rotting and keeping items like ready-to-eat meats and cheeses safe to consume. 3 Salt is utilised in the fermentation of foods such as sauerkraut, pickles, and kefir.
3. Manufacturing: Sodium chloride is used in large quantities in industrial manufacturing to create a variety of products. Sodium chloride is used to make plastic, paper, rubber, glass, chlorine, polyester, home bleach, soaps, detergents, and colours.
4. De-Icing Roads: Rock salt is frequently used to de-ice roads and sidewalks. Before it is processed into finer crystals, rock salt is the same type of salt used on your dinner table.

Conclusion

We conclude that the chemical name for salt is sodium chloride. Sodium is an electrolyte that controls how much water your body holds. Nerve impulses and muscle contractions are also affected by sodium. Dehydration, excessive sweating, and other causes of sodium loss are treated or prevented by sodium chloride.